Kevin Meyer

CRANBERRY TWP — Kevin Meyer might be the new chief of the township police department, but there’s nothing new about his relationship with a community he’s been policing for 20 years.

The township supervisors last week promoted Meyer to chief, a position that hasn’t been in existence for more than 15 years.

Beyond the change in title, Meyer said his duties largely will remain the same. He will stay in the same office and will continue to oversee the same group of officers he’s supervised since being promoted to lieutenant in 2007.

Meyer, 48, has been with the department since 1996 and has seen it grow since then. There were only 12 officers when Meyer joined the force compared to 28 officers now.

And the township’s economy and population has grown in the same time and is expected to continue that growth for at least the next decade.

However, the new chief doesn’t worry about a correlation between an increase in population and an increase in crime. Rather, he sees opportunity.

“I don’t envision many difficulties,” he said. “I just see opportunity for growth. We do a lot of good things here with everyone working hard day in and day out to make this a better Cranberry Township.”

Meyer, who lives in the area with his wife and three boys, described the township government as a “well-oiled machine” of employees who work to improve the township.

He said everyone knows their role “from the board of supervisors all the way down to the lowest man on the totem pole. We all play a role to make Cranberry what it is.”

Meyer, originally from Washington County, graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1988. He became a police officer in 1995. He was a deputy sheriff in Washington County before that.

Jeff Schueler, the director of public safety for Cranberry, has been with the township for nearly 35 years and has seen Meyer rise from patrolman to chief.

It was mostly Schueler’s recommendation that got Meyer promoted to chief, a title that was needed given the department and the community’s growth.

“We’re growing more complex here all the time,” Schueler said. “Kevin was doing the job of chief without the title so this makes his job a little easier.”

Schueler is positive that Meyer is the right man for the job.

He noted that Meyer attended the FBI’s National Academy in 2008, an invitation-only program that is only attended by less than once percent of law enforcement across the country, Schueler said.

“He was chosen (as chief) because he has very strong leadership qualities,” Schueler said.

Township manager Jerry Andree said, “He demonstrates professionalism and excellence in law enforcement and executive leadership. He shares the same vision on where our department needs to go.”